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Do a periodic search on Craigslist. Unfortunately most people want Ferrari money for Yugo equipment, but negotiate. A decent South Bend 9a can be had for $400 to $1200 depending on condition, bed length etc. I got the 9a with a 4' bed I use daily for $250, but that was a 1 in 1000 type deal. As...

Oh, you are correct to stay away from the combo machines unless it is all that is available. They are better than nothing, but don't do as well as truly dedicated machines.

Depends on the work you want to do. I am a gunsmith. I have and use daily a Southbend 9A lathe, and a Clausing 8525 knee mill. Both are from the 1950's and suit my needs well. But again, I am a Gunsmith and I do small work. I have run up against the size limitations of my machines many times. As...

Do you have a pic of what you are trying to accomplish? May be something I could whip up cheap in the machine shop.

I assume we are talking about a air compressor here? If so, pretty hard to clean out. Are you using a filter/dryer/regulator of some sort? If not that would help. I cleaned the rust out of an old tank (fluid tank not air tank) by putting muriatic acid and gravel in it and then spinning it on a...

I bought the one from summit racing. Had to shorten the chain on my hoist and choke up on the leveler chains too. Also the crank for the worm drive was useless and i had to fab one out of large dia rod. As mentioned grease that sucker up.

That may work, but it is a bad idea, as it is horrendously bad for your lungs. Silicosis will kill you. I use a hepa filtered vacuum on my machine and I still wear a respirator while blasting using aluminum oxide media. In fact I have another hepa filter i run in the shop just to be constantly...

Stay far far away from the siphon tube kits. You will be disappointed.

Oh, and an added benefit is that I used to have to blast with 90 psi. Now with Mike's system I only use 60 psi to get the same effect. Saves a lot of compressor run time. C

How much blasting do you do? Or want to do? Reason i ask is this. You can turn your harbor freight cabinet into a sandblasting MACHINE, with an upgrade from Tacoma Company found here: Tacoma Company. I make antique gun parts for a living, and use my blaster A LOT. I have a great cabinet but...

Agree on annealing it. I heat red hot and cover in lime to slow the cooling down, dirt or sand would be a good bet too. Sometimes I have to double anneal. That "drill press" is better than nothing, but you really need something with some leverage and a vice to hold your part stationary. And...

I went for a lunch time walk at work one day. There was a nice slide hammer with a seal puller attachment laying in the rain gutter on the side of the road. It now resides in my tool box and has been used on many occasions.

Totally cool!

Thank you Chris. On my next order I'm going to try some 30-60. Best, CE

Chrisf, that is great info. Yes I did get the brown/red stuff. It seems to be standing up fairly well. I have been using it for my daily blasting too. Once it breaks down a bit it is okay for my regular job. As you are a blaster, what would you use/recommend for scaly, rusty steel? Thanks, CE

http://www.harborfreight.com/compressed-air-dryer-40211.html One quarter the price of a "decent" air dryer and some of my machine shop friends are doing very well with them. I may get one myself.

I use alum ox as my daily media as mentioned above, but I think the 60 grit was just too fine for the tough rust. The 36 grit is more aggressive. It will be interesting to see how the Garnett holds up as compared to the alu ox.

Well, if anyone is wondering I went ahead and got some 36 grit Garnett. It is working pretty well on the heavy scale. CE

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=91&PARTPG=INLMK32 For the electra lube coated taps.

Lol. I hate it every time too. Gummy crap....... When people asked me what stainless was made of, I used to tell 'em it was an alloy of steel with a percentage of F-U and a little bit of SOB mixed in. :) Yes, good quality taps make a huge difference. I prefer OSG electra lube taps in this...

Hey all, I use 60 grit aluminum oxide in my gunsmith/machine shop blast cabinet. Lately I have been using it on some front end parts and it just isn't aggressive enough for rusty scaly surfaces. What do you recommend? I won't use any silica indoors and "black beauty" isn't much good either...

Treblig nailed it. Tap Magic is your friend in this instance. Works pretty well in aluminum too. Go online to use-enco.com and you can get a 4 oz bottle pretty cheap. I use it every day in the machine shop. Rapid Tap is my other favorite. I use it on tough steels.